We farewelled the bottom five clubs last time and there’ll be another four gone by this time next week.
With slim finals hopes still alive between positions 9th and 12th on the NRL ladder, here are my key takeaways for the Knights, Dragons, Raiders and Broncos with one game left to play.
9th – Newcastle Knights
I’ve been fairly vocal about Adam O’Brien’s lack of policy and planning in key spine positions over the past two seasons.
An otherwise well-balanced squad and a few purple patches from Kalyn Ponga have masked over the issues plaguing Newcastle in the halves particularly, and it will likely end up the difference between the Knights finals hopes in NRL season 2024.
With more than six halves pairings trialed this year alone, Newcastle are seemingly no closer to finding the right mix in the #6 and #7 jumpers.
The latest makeshift pairing of Phoenix Crossland and Jack Cogger has proved serviceable over the past month but has had the luxury of facing the Tigers, Rabbitohs and Titans – three of the worst defensive teams in the NRL – during that time.
Ponga’s move to an on-the-ball role in NRL Round 26 saw him post his second-most receipts (46) in any game this year and spend a lot more time through the middle of the field while Cogger and Crossland played second-fiddle on the edges.
Again; a serviceable solution but hardly a long term one in an attack that should be built around passing Ponga into positive situations out wide.
In O’Brien’s defence, he has overseen the most-encouraging development of Newcastle’s next-gen talent; names like Fletcher Sharpe, Dylan Lucas, Brodie Jones and Kai Pearce-Paul don’t look out of place in an NRL Top 30 squad and will help the Knights farewell a cast of aging talent in the coming years.
10th – St George-Illawarra Dragons
Despite stumbling at the final hurdle, NRL season 2024 can only be considered a resounding success for St George-Illawarra in Shane Flanagan’s maiden campaign.
Inheriting a skinny roster and making the most of what astute signings (Luciana Leilua, Kyle Flanagan, Christian Tuipulotu, Raymond Faitala-Mariner) were available at the time, Flanagan has completely changed this Dragons squad inside 12 months.
Introducing new systems will always take time and St George missed the mark on a few occasions this season.
Their light forward pack struggled against the top teams while a lack of depth in the backline saw the Dragons picked apart on the edges at different times as a lack of combinations and cohesion took its toll.
Across the board though, every single player in the Top 30 improved on their 2023 form under Flanagan’s coaching and St George are already profiling well to do the same again next year.
With another off-season to learn the systems and a few more key additions to the roster, there’s plenty for Dragons fans to be optimistic about, looking ahead.
11th – Canberra Raiders
A few brave punters had Canberra as a value Wooden Spoon pick before a ball was kicked this season but that was never going to happen.
The Ricky Stuart rollercoaster can be a wild ride at times but he instills too much grit and effort in his players to ever be genuine Spoon contenders.
In what was already labeled a rebuild year over the summer, Jamal Fogarty was the one player the Raiders couldn’t afford to lose in 2024.
His absence forced the accelerated development of Ethan Strange and Kaeo Weekes who both impressed beyond their years and now profile as key players in Canberra’s 2025 campaign.
For the Raiders to potentially finish just one win shy of playing finals football with this roster (especially when you consider Corey Horsburgh and Corey Harawiera-Naera both hardly featured, too) is a credit to Canberra’s resilient DNA as a club under Stuart.
Looking forward, there are extremely encouraging signs around the aforementioned Strange and Weekes while Morgan Smithies impressed in his debut NRL season.
Elsewhere, Xavier Savage truly kicked on in season 2024 and appears to be realising his potential as a future State of Origin representative.
There’s still some pieces to add to this roster and there’ll likely be some fallout from the departure of both Elliott Whitehead and Jordan Rapana – two of the best clubmen I’ve had the pleasure of watching in my lifetime.
If history is any indication though, Ricky’s Raiders will always be there or thereabouts.
12th – Brisbane Broncos
NRL season 2024 has been a mixture of fair excuses and genuine disappointments for the Brisbane Broncos.
Liam Fogarty hit some good areas on the Neds NRL Unpopular Opinions Podcast this week when assessing a Broncos roster that comprehensively failed to reach the lofty heights of their ‘23 Grand Final campaign, this time around.
There were questions around Brisbane’s ability to replace Herbie Farnworth, Kurt Capewell and Tom Flegler this year and for the most part, those questions still remain.
Brendan Piakura and Selwyn Cobbo both enjoyed highlight reel moments in new roles but their defensive deficiencies quickly became a spot for opposing teams.
Closer to the ruck, Payne Haas and Pat Carrigan were left desperate for support at different times this season and those supporting roles are no more clearly defined after 27 rounds.
Extended absences for Adam Reynolds and Reece Walsh were fair excuses and unfortunate obstacles for Kevvie Walters to navigate, but injuries will always be a factor in rugby league and Brisbane’s apparent lack of a Plan B in attack is alarming.
There’ll be enough conjecture over Walters’ future in the coming weeks so I’ll not add to it here.
If we’re getting the same results from a similar roster in the early rounds of 2025 though, I won’t be surprised to see some significant changes in Red Hill.
Written by Oscar Pannifex | rugbyleaguewriters.com